Interview with Michael Johnson, Managing Director of Card Connection

Date

Feb 10, 2017

Card Connection

All of the franchises for sale are established businesses which still have great potential for growth. Full size and cost details, plus a map of the geographical territory, are available by contacting...

Tell us about
Card Connection?

Card Connection is a leading
greeting card publisher and franchisor and has been established in
the industry for more than 20 years. We have helped hundreds
of franchisees become self-employed and run successful businesses
over the past two decades. Last year Card Connection
was named as a finalist for the BFA Franchisor of the year
award.

How long have
you worked for Card Connection?

">More
than fifteen years! I joined the company in 2000 and moved
from finance and operations director to become managing director in
2009.

How does the franchise work?

Franchisees place our ranges of
quality greetings cards and accessories in retail outlets on a
‘consignment’ basis. This is one step beyond sale or return as
the equipment and stock is provided on free loan to retailers and
they only pay for what they sell. This creates a win-win
situation for retailers and franchisees alike and the award winning
concept has proved popular with more than 12,000 stores throughout
the UK.

What are Card Connection’s main
USPs?

Card Connection has a number of
unique selling points including marketing licenced product such as
Boofle and Disney, plus the Company’s own in-house designed cards
and accessories such as bags and wrap. We also have a national
account network where the franchisees supply around 100 Regional
and National retail accounts such as Costcutter, WH Smiths Motorway
Services, NISA, BP and Spar. Dedicated head office staff
manage the central relationship with national accounts on behalf of
our franchisees, while franchisees manage the local
relationships.

The company is all about longevity.
Our staff have an average tenure of eight years and we have worked
with some of our national account customers for 15
years! Similarly, our franchisees stay with us for an average
of ten years with some having run successful Card Connection
franchises for almost 20 years! Unusually, as all of our
territories are full, only re-sale franchises ever become
available, offering new franchisees the opportunity to step into a
working business and earn money from day
one.

What Challenges do you face?

If potential
franchisees are worried about cash flow we encourage them to
examine the accounts of other franchisees so they can get a
realistic idea of likely income. If the purchase price of a
franchise is a sticking point, creating a business plan and
discussing it with financial institutions that offer funding to new
franchisees can be a way forward.

What people often forget is that
any employed role can suddenly end in redundancy. However, by
becoming self-employed, franchisees have far more visibility of the
financial outlook of their business, are in more control of their
own destiny and therefore, are often more ‘job secure’

What else can hold potential franchisees
back?

We
sometimes meet with potential franchisees who like the idea of
running a Card Connection business but because they have never seen
it done, find it hard to visualise how it would work on a
day-to-day basis. For this reason, many of our franchises tend
to be sold through word–of-mouth and recommendation. If you
know someone who has run a successful franchise, it is easier to
see how you may be able to do the same thing

To
help overcome this challenge, we encourage people to talk to our
franchisees, spend a day or two on the road with them to understand
what the business actually entails. Some are worried it will
mean ‘hard sell’ and when they have been out to meet our retail
customers, are always surprised how keen the store managers are to
see our franchisees, to take new stock and have their displays of
greetings cards merchandised professionally.

Do franchisees need to be creative to merchandise
greeting card displays?

Our franchisees come from all walks
of life. Successful individuals have ranged from an ex-coal
miner to a race-horse trainer to a deep-sea fisherman plus plenty
of other professions in between! Merchandising displays
of greetings cards to make them look fresh and attractive to
customers is a big part of the role. However, franchisees are
fully trained and work to a specially designed and researched
‘planogram’ which is based on the way consumers search and buy
greetings cards. Although franchisees can be creative they
don’t need to be!

Who makes an ideal Card Connection
franchisee?

Enthusiastic individuals or couples
who are not afraid of hard work but who want to be rewarded for the
effort they put in to running their own business.

What advice do you offer new
franchisees?

You can do this! We provide a
comprehensive manual so as well as the intensive, head-office
training, the manual offers a chance to refer back at any
time. We are here to help and our staff are all experienced,
friendly and approachable and will provide all the support and
training necessary to help get new franchisees off to a good start.
Whatever challenge encountered, it is guaranteed we’ve probably
come across it before, so can help!

Card Connection
is part of UK Greetings, which is a subsidiary of American
Greetings Inc., one of the largest greeting card publishers in the
world and has limited vacancies for franchisees that are keen to
run an expanding business. Since the franchise network in the UK is
complete, the available opportunities now consist of acquiring an
already-established territory from an existing
franchisee. These vary in price according to their level of
developmentbut start at £7k + Stock + Card Connection fee with
earnings potential in excess of £50k per
annum.

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